Blog Posts

By Elizabeth Schuster

While millions of Americans continue to struggle to find work, pay down debt and provide for their families, Wall Street has bounced back from the economic crisis it caused. Already, the financial sector is grabbing 30 percent of all corporate profits in America. And as we’ve said before, Wall Street has set its sights on making profits out of gambling with our essential, common resources.

With our communities still suffering and our common resources being imminently threatened by the financial sector’s risky practices, made that much riskier by noise trading speculators and their high speed trading algorithms, now is the perfect time to institute a financial transaction tax on Wall Street firms.

Just last week, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-5th-MI) introduced a bill called the Inclusive Prosperity Act (H.R. 6411). This bill is very similar to the Robin Hood tax concept that has been promoted both domestically and internationally to raise much needed funds in a time of global economic crisis, while reigning in some of the riskiest traders.

That’s why Food & Water Watch supports the Inclusive Prosperity Act.

The Inclusive Prosperity Act establishes a small tax, .5 percent on stocks, .1 percent on bonds, and .005 percent on derivatives or other investments that could raise more than $350 billion each year. These funds could ensure we make the real investments needed to grow our economy and provide a better future for our children.

By Adam Hofbauer

I recently joined dozens of other activists in San Francisco to shed light on the destructive practice of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. As part of the Global Frackdown, our gathering beneath the Golden Gate Bridge coincided with simultaneous actions all over the world. In New York state organizers were chanting for their governor not to lift a moratorium on the extraction method that has already endangered the water and health of neighboring Pennsylvania. In South Africa, activists protested their country’s recent decision to lift a moratorium on shale gas drilling. These were just a few of the many events that day, all of them serving to demonstrate the growing worldwide resistance to the irresponsible practices of the natural gas drilling industry.

For as much effort as the industry puts into discounting the harmful effects of fracking, those of us who demonstrated have already reached our conclusion. We don’t need any industry-sponsored research to persuade us that pumping dozens of (often times undisclosed) chemicals and abrasive particulates into ancient rock formations at extreme high pressures is a “safe” method of gas extraction.

No matter how slick their graphics and advertisements indicating that natural gas is a safe alternative to other fuels because of its lower amounts of Co2, the industry cannot bury the fact that huge amounts of methane – a much more harmful greenhouse gas than Co2 – is released into the atmosphere through its extraction and burning. And we are not convinced that artificially low fuel prices (expected to rise again once the natural gas speculation bubble bursts within the next few years) are reason enough to accept a practice that threatens our water, is linked to earthquakes and continues the industrial world’s long time love affair with unsustainable fossil fuels.  

It’s for all of these reasons and more that so many gathered together for the Global Frackdown. The fight against fracking has become the new front line in the environmental movement. As a resident of California, I live in a state where natural gas supplies 46.5 percent of all electricity. I know that even the machines on which I write these words and on which you are reading them are likely powered by this harmful power source. I know that unless enough pressure is put on the leaders of our state to order it stopped, fracking is going to continue to expand into the shale oil reserves near Los Angeles and beneath the Central Valley. As a resident of the Bay Area, I know that natural gas companies have already begun drilling our nearby reserves.

Maybe more importantly, I come to this fight as an Ohio native. My home state sits directly on top of the converging formations of the Marcellus and Devonian shales, two of the largest sources of potential natural gas in the country. To the east, Pennsylvania has already seen the effects of fracking into this reserve, with countless farmers selling their land and water rights in exchange for empty promises and contaminated wells. If the fracking lobby is allowed to expand, I know that my home is directly in their path. There could come a day when I return home for Christmas or in the middle of some balmy and unbearable summer, and the fields along the highways are sick with drills, the skies the same muddy brown reported above the gas fields of Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey already agrees that the six-fold increase in seismic activity in the central Midwest is potentially linked to the increase in speculative drilling. Whether it’s the house I grew up in or the apartment I live in now, I don’t have to wait until the roof starts to shake and the water starts to stink before I take action.

As a former organizer against Mountain Top Removal in rural Appalachia, I have seen firsthand how destructive energy extraction techniques can poison resources and devastate a landscape. But I have also seen how a community can mobilize against the outside forces that seek to exploit their home for short-term gain. And now, even before the fight for the mountains has been won, a new battle emerges that affects even greater areas of the country. In the fight against fracking, the front lines are everywhere.

Adam Hofbauer is a blogger and writer based in San Francisco.  He is a recent graduate of the San Francisco State University Masters program in creative writing.  His current writing on environmentalism and other issues can be found at www.theoverpicture.com.

Food & Water Watch Assistant Director Patty Lovera

By Patty Lovera

October 1 is an important date around Washington, DC, because it’s the first day of the government’s fiscal year. So for the federal government, it is now 2013.

While that might seem irrelevant unless you’re an accountant, it does matter for how government agencies run their programs. And like so many things happening in D.C. this year, budgets have not been done in a normal process. One thing Congress did manage to do before leaving town was to deal (kind of) with the budget situation, by passing a “continuing resolution” that extends the 2012 budget for another six months instead of passing a new one. This means they will have to re-examine the budgets for the rest of 2013 after the election, in the new Congress. (And this will happen after the budget cuts required by last year’s deficit reduction deal, called “sequestration,” kicks in. Which is a topic for a different day.)

But one thing that did NOT get done was to pass a new Farm Bill. And the 2008 Farm Bill expired yesterday. We are now running without a Farm Bill, a situation that most ag policy veterans swore would never happen because it was just too disruptive to contemplate. But here we are. Read the full article…

By Eric Anderson

If there’s one David and Goliath fight coming up this election season, it’s California’s Prop 37. As you’ve probably heard by now, this initiative would require that foods containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients be labeled as such in California, something that nearly 50 other nations have already done. Right now in the U.S., there are no requirements that GE foods be labeled, leaving consumers in the dark about what they are eating.

The fight over Prop 37 has created a sharp divide between consumers and corporations. On the one hand, polling shows that over 90 percent of people nationwide favor mandatory GE labeling. In California, support for Prop 37 hovers around 61 percent compared to 25 percent against. These high levels of support demonstrate that most consumers, regardless of political persuasion, agree that mandatory GE labeling in no way limits consumer choice and in fact helps consumers make more informed decisions about what they purchase. Read the full article…

By Mitch Jones

It seems every few months we get another report about how hard pressed America’s fishermen are. In April I pointed the troubling signs of increased salmon imports in early 2012. Now reports suggest that China is enjoying a robust year in seafood exports. Individual companies as well as regions within China are reporting double-digit percentage increases in exports. This news of increased pressure from China couldn’t come at a worse time for America’s domestic fishing industry.

Earlier this month Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank declared the Northeast Groundfish Fishery a disaster. On the same day she also declared a commercial fishery failure on Alaska’s Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and in the Cook Inlet because of low Chinook salmon returns. These actions will allow the federal government to offer millions of dollars of relief to the fishermen in these fisheries. But temporary relief isn’t enough. We need to protect America’s fishermen from fishery management programs that fail to protect fish, while putting independent fishermen out of business.

But while we’re fighting this fight here in Washington and in the regional fisheries across the country, it’s important to watch what you buy. No matter where you shop, look for domestic seafood. If it’s salmon, ask for U.S. wild caught. If it’s catfish or tilapia, ask for U.S. farmed. And when in doubt, you can consult our Smart Seafood Guide.

By Gabriella Zanzanaini

Update: Firenze 10+10 brought together many civil society movements across Europe over 4 days of discussion and planning. Food & Water Europe coordinated the European Water Assembly where an agenda for 2013 was set for the water movement. We also participated in the convergence sessions on the Commons with groups working on food sovereignty, fracking, large infrastructures, health, education and sports. 

We invite all of you to join us on the following common European action dates decided in Firenze: 23-27 January 2013 will be a week against the financialization of nature and banks to coincide with the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, 22 March 2013 is World Water Day where decentralized actions on water will take place all over Europe with a common action in Brussels and 23 March 2013 will be an European Day of Action against the EU Summit in Brussels. Stay tuned and mark your calendars! 

What is Firenze 10+10 and How Is Food & Water Europe Central to It?

Food & Water Europe will participate in Firenze 10+10 by coordinating the pillar on the Commons; as part of the of the newly formed European Water Movement and through the Financialization of Nature network which fights to stop the “assetization” of our natural commons.

It has become increasingly evident that local movements need to coordinate at the European level as well. Local victories, though powerful, are no longer sufficient to withstand pressure coming from the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank & International Monetary Fund), who is pushing through mass privatization through conditionalities for rescue funds.

Europe needs to build a new European Public Space. We need to look at the next 10 years with common objectives, agendas and strategies. The crisis –in its multiples facets – and austerity policies can be overcome, but we need to move beyond our fragmentation and our one-issue focuses to stand on common ground.

Ten years ago, Florence, Italy hosted the first ever European Social Forum. It constituted an extraordinary moment in the construction of a continent-wide demonstration, presenting analyses, proposals and solutions which – had they been translated into policies – would have helped to avoid the social and democratic crisis in which Europe finds itself now. 

Ten years on, there is neither nostalgia nor a desire to celebrate what we had then; even less do we intend today to repeat paths which belong to that time and that stage of development: the social movements have changed, new actors have emerged, there have been defeats but also victories, such as that of the water movement in Italy which won a crushing referendum against privatization last year.

So come join us in Firenze to build convergences and a common action for Europe. 

By Kate Fried

This past Saturday we convened a little event called the Global Frackdown. Maybe you heard about it? Thousands of activists on five continents came together for over 200 events to send one, definitive message—Ban Fracking Now.

The movement to ban fracking is growing nationwide—all because of the hard work of people like you. You and your peers, concerned citizens around the globe from all walks of life united in your desire to preserve the health of your communities, started to catch wind of the public health and environmental risks associated with fracking. You did your research, and even when you saw politicians on the news touting the so-called “benefits” of natural gas, you had your doubts. You talked to your neighbors, formed your own organizations and started speaking out in order to protect the health of future generations.

Then when you noticed the oil and gas industry ramping up its PR offensive, frantically running for its spin machine, you knew they were up to no good. After all, why would any industry so motivated by profits squander a cent on ads if they knew they didn’t have a serious public relations battle on their hands?

Yes, you’ve been fighting fracking for a while now, and the Global Frackdown gave you a chance to take action in concert with thousands of like-minded individuals around the globe. Maybe you were in Brussels, protesting outside the European Parliament; perhaps you said “non” to fracking in Paris or asked your elected officials not to frack with the Karoo in South Africa. Was that you we spotted in Buffalo, once again asking Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban fracking in New York? Or maybe you were one of the legions of activists who participated virtually.

Regardless of where you were, you joined with thousands of like-minded souls whose voices coalesced into one. You made your message clear—that you don’t want fracking anywhere on earth.

Ultimately, you know and we know that the fight to ban fracking is just getting started. The oil and gas industry has a seemingly endless supply of cash, but we have one thing on our side that they don’t—irrefutable facts, evidence that fracking is destroying our planet and our collective future. We won’t stand for it, and neither will you. And so, the fight continues. Thank you. Of course, we would also like to thank the more than 150 partner organizations around the world for their help in making the Global Frackdown possible.

By Maude Barlow

From left to right: Barbara Gysi, Cedric Wermuth, Yvonne Feri, Jacques Neyrinck, Maude Barlow, Rosmarie, Balthasar Glättli and Franklin Frederick. Photo Courtesy of Council of Canadians.

Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of Council of Canadians and Board Chair of Food & Water Watch. This post originally appeared on the Council of Canadians’ blog.

I have just returned from a week in Switzerland to promote the right to water and to challenge the giant Swiss bottled water giant Nestlé. My visit was arranged by Franklin Frederick, an activist and leader in the global fight against Nestlé Waters, who is originally from Brazil, but now lives and works in Switzerland. Franklin is an extraordinary man. He is fiercely committed to global water justice and has been a thorn in the side of the water privateers for years. I also reconnected with Rosmarie Bar, a former Green Member of the Swiss Parliament and former senior member of the Swiss development network, Alliance Sud. Rosmarie and I worked together to form an international group called Friends of the Right to Water and worked for many years to lay the groundwork for the recognition of this right at the UN.

I spoke at the universities of Bern and Lucerne and in a beautiful 500 year-old church located in the heart of Bern. In the magnificent wood paneled Swiss Parliament, I also met with a delegation of MPs from every party who are committed to protecting public water and the human right to water. In all these venues, I met wonderful, committed people working for economic and social justice.

However, it is very clear that Nestlé is a powerful presence in Switzerland and its influence in the halls of power goes deep. Everyone I talked to said so in one way or another. Switzerland has no law limiting political donations from corporations, or requiring transparency in campaign financing. Given that the marketing department of Nestlé has a larger annual budget than the World Health Organization, it is widely understood that the company has great political influence.

Read the full article…

By Gabriella Zanzanaini

Update: On the 10 December 2012, mayors from Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Genoa, Ghent, Leicester, Nantes, Naples, Paris and Vienna have joined forces with civil society and trade union campaigners to call for the implementation of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation into European Law.

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Have you heard of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI)? It’s a new tool launched by the European Commission to help citizens play a more active role in European political processes. Available since April 2012, it enables citizens to put an issue on the political agenda through an “ECI,” which involves collecting 1 million signatures from at least seven different EU Member States. 

Not only do you need 1 million signatures, but an ECI has to be organised by at least seven people from seven different EU Member States. This group forms a so-called citizens’ committee, which is in charge of proposing the ECI and collecting signatures.

The first ECI approved by the European Commission is on the human right to water. Led by the European Public Services Federation, the citizens’ committee is formed largely by public service trade unions and supported by a broad variety of organizations working on implementation of the human right to water.

Food & Water Europe is working to support and promote this ECI because governments in the EU have to meet their obligation to provide water and sanitation services to all. The human right to water and sanitation means that all people are entitled to clean and safe water and sanitation. These services must be available, accessible, affordable and acceptable for the people. Currently, the criteria for clean and safe water and sanitation differ widely among and even within countries.

Read the full article…

By Mark Schlosberg

 The oil and gas industry knows it has a fracking problem. Oil and gas companies and their apologists are spending tens of millions of dollars on misleading propaganda touting the supposed benefits of fracking and natural gas as a so-called “bridge fuel.” They are spending millions more lobbying elected officials to open new lands to fracking. They are even trying to convince the public that natural gas is clean energy.

Tomorrow, communities across the world are fighting back with one unified message: our movement is growing, our movement is strong, and we do not accept fracking and its impacts on our water, air, health and communities. It’s time to ban fracking now.

Read the full article…